The one in his profile picture and the one he mentions, looks like a mk2 2.8 Ghia, quite a rare beast nowadays
Thanks Gary. I don't take too much notice of profile pictures which is why I missed it.
So many Granada's ended their lives on the banger racing circuit (and still do!), I think there's a special class for them. Seen some very nice ones over the years, there's a very rare European 2-door mk2 saloon not far from me.
Have you thought about MAD's suspension units, might help when fully loaded, nice Motor.
Sad to say its exactly why I wouldn't go to a dealer unless it was literally the only place I could find the specific van I wanted.
If say you'd bought my caravan when I come to sell it, its not expensive, maybe 4-5k. However I can tell you everything about it, and I would show you how to do everything you need to know, and make sure you went away confident in what you bought even though its not my job to do so. I like my caravan and know it inside out, the person I bought it off likewise knew its history from day 1, warts and all, so in turn I now know it too.
I wouldn't buy a caravan off someone who wasn't willing to do that because I wouldn't believe they cared enough to have fixed any faults or maintained it properly. Buying a clearance caravan from a dealer would be a total lottery as they're almost certainly not going to know its history nor care if its falling apart.
The younger generation can't afford a house so very doubtful that a caravan will be very high on their list.
We started caravanning about 18 years ago, and back then it was relatively cheap , fuel was cheap, CLs were cheap etc etc.
In that time our relative earnings are down by 20% or more as my wife is a teacher and the companies I have worked for have never been great at handing out a pay rise.
So we are squeezed at both ends. Our caravan, although now paid for is a luxury that we have to consider very carefully as to keeping it. I have one daughter at university and another due to start in September. So I think it ,may be the last year of caravanning for us, at least for a while. Hopefully I am wrong
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Very similar to us, my wife is a teaching assistant and the pay is almost laughable. Fortunately I worked for a company for 22 years that had a lucrative share option scheme which enable me to invest and pay the mortgage off early, but we also have a daughter at university and helping fund her is way more than the mortgage ever was for us.
I can't help but think that a lot of folks are just riding a wave of unsustainable spending/borrowing and at some point, the bubble will burst.
I know what the OP means about dealers looking down their nose at those seeking a cheaper caravan, friends of ours experienced this a few years back, in the end they bought one off EBay for £1,200 and spent six months refurbishing it, it was brilliant when they'd done and they had some great holidays in it.
I am glad to hear from others, that I am not the only one, thinking that caravanning is getting too expensive to carry on with.
Since I retired, my pension has gone up with the cost of living, supposedly, but actual money available doesn't seem show this.
When I was working we could get away a lot, site fees didn't come into it, but now, trying to find cl /cs that fits our wants are not always available. We hate booking months ahead, and seldom book weekends or Bank holidays, over the last few years, we seem to have more Hospital visits.
As we keep saying to each other, we shall give it another year.
Rant over.
Since I retired, my pension has gone up with the cost of living, supposedly, but actual money available doesn't seem show this.
When I was working we could get away a lot, site fees didn't come into it, but now, trying to find cl /cs that fits our wants are not always available. We hate booking months ahead, and seldom book weekends or Bank holidays, over the last few years, we seem to have more Hospital visits.
As we keep saying to each other, we shall give it another year.
Rant over.
Is it getting or are people making it to expensive? I don't spend much on mine. I maybe invested £1000 in it over the 4 years we've had this one (above the cost of sites). I don't think Ive enjoyed the experience any less than if I had a 30k caravan. In fact Im convinced I enjoyed it more. OK some of that is because I quite enjoy fixing the odd thing here and there, but at a cost of maybe £500 per year for maintenance and insurance, virtually no depreciation, and paying maybe £30 a night average for stays, it doesn't seem all that expensive. Cheaper than a package holiday for sure!
I may be wrong, but I think that is site occupancy, to make up the difference they hike up the prices and then wonder why even less people want to use the site.
It wasn’t the expense that led us to cease caravanning in 2014-17, then finally in 2021. It was that various family commitments, some occurring at short notice made it very difficult to plan trips away. We had promised our daughter that she would get our support whilst working and studying for her mental health nursing degree, In parallel our granddaughter found six form very difficult so she had our support in her transition to college studies. Pleased to say that both have successfully completed their courses and daughter is now looking to a Masters plus further NHS advanced qualifications. So whilst we would candidly admit that we loved our caravanning and do miss it, we accomplished our mission, and have changed our approach to holidays. Our next step is to see how the pooch gets on in kennels, as we have a longing for holidays abroad.
Let me stir the pot a bit more.
First caravan 1978 cost £500, basic but good. House then worth £15k 3.3%
2008 cost £16,800 less £9k on a px Pageant ,net £7,800. House worth £324k. 2.4%
Today , on a pension, no way would we spend nearly £50 k on a caravan =8.3%
Ironically 15 years on doing 90% of repairs ourselves the Wyoming is still going strong and in essence is a free lunch. Ok storage £250 pa , insurance servicing, but still cheap.
CSs and CLs have been saviours. Rarely over £25 pn and FSP.
Our view is the more often you use the caravan the more cost effective it becomes!
First caravan 1978 cost £500, basic but good. House then worth £15k 3.3%
2008 cost £16,800 less £9k on a px Pageant ,net £7,800. House worth £324k. 2.4%
Today , on a pension, no way would we spend nearly £50 k on a caravan =8.3%
Ironically 15 years on doing 90% of repairs ourselves the Wyoming is still going strong and in essence is a free lunch. Ok storage £250 pa , insurance servicing, but still cheap.
CSs and CLs have been saviours. Rarely over £25 pn and FSP.
Our view is the more often you use the caravan the more cost effective it becomes!
Atlantic Caravans on the YouTube has some vids on the state of the caravan market. Mix of issues
Build quality (new vans)
Can't use other dealers for servicing repairs (unlike cars where you can take your Ford to another Ford dealer)
COVID was good for dealers but now some still have 2022 stocks they can't shift & are been forced to take on 2025 stock due to contracts etc
Interestingly Atlantic has stopped selling new vans to focus on the pre-owned market.
Build quality (new vans)
Can't use other dealers for servicing repairs (unlike cars where you can take your Ford to another Ford dealer)
COVID was good for dealers but now some still have 2022 stocks they can't shift & are been forced to take on 2025 stock due to contracts etc
Interestingly Atlantic has stopped selling new vans to focus on the pre-owned market.
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